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en-usTue, 03 Mar 2015 16:30:46 -0500Tue, 03 Mar 2015 16:30:46 -0500The latest news on Military.com from Business Insiderhttp://static3.businessinsider.com/assets/images/bilogo-250x36-wide-rev.pngBusiness Insiderhttp://www.businessinsider.com
http://www.businessinsider.com/a-woman-flew-an-f-35-simulator-with-her-mind-2015-3A quadriplegic woman flew an F-35 simulator with her mindhttp://www.businessinsider.com/a-woman-flew-an-f-35-simulator-with-her-mind-2015-3
Tue, 03 Mar 2015 10:41:00 -0500Brendan McGarry
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/54f5c6c769beddef3cd23756-712-534/quadriplegia-robot-arm-thought-control.jpg" border="0" alt="quadriplegia robot arm thought control"></p><p>Jan Scheuermann, a quadriplegic and pioneering patient for an experimental Pentagon robotics program, continues to break ground in freeing the mind from the body.</p>
<p>The 55-year-old mother of two in 2012 agreed to let surgeons implant electrodes on her brain to control a robotic arm.</p>
<p>More recently, she flew an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter simulator using nothing but her thoughts, an official said.</p>
<p>Arati Prabhakar, director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, cited the breakthrough last week at the first annual Future of War conference.</p>
<p>The event was organized by the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan research group in Washington, D.C.</p>
<p>Scheuermann, who became paralyzed years ago from a rare genetic disease, has tolerated the two pea-sized implants on her left motor cortex “very well,” Prabhakar said, allowing her to extend her participation in the DARPA project.</p>
<p>While the left motor cortex is understood to control the movement on the right side of the body, Scheuermann was able to manipulate both right– and left-handed versions of the robotic limb, Prabhakar said.</p>
<p>But the experiments aren’t limited to prosthetics. Indeed, so-called neural signaling is at the heart of the research.</p>
<p>So Scheuermann decided she wanted to try flying a simulator of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, Prabhakar said, which is the Pentagon’s newest fighter jet and its most expensive weapons acquisition program.</p>
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/4f723e0169beddfa19000025-900-672/flight-deck.jpg" border="0" alt="F35">“Instead of thinking about controlling a joystick, which is what our ace pilots do when they’re driving this thing, Jan’s thinking about controlling the airplane directly,” Prabhakar said. “For someone who’s never flown — she’s not a pilot in real life — she’s flying that simulator directly from her neural signaling.”</p>
<p>Prabhakar said the research is far from becoming reality. Even so, she acknowledged that it raises fundamental moral and ethical questions about the intersection of biology and robotics.</p>
<p>“In doing this work, we’ve also opened this door,” she said. “We can now see a future where we can free the brain from the limitations of the human body and I think we can all imagine amazing good things and amazing potential bad things that are on the other side of that door.”</p>
<p>Geoffrey Ling, director of the biological technologies at DARPA and one of the lead scientists behind the project, said he was just as excited when he saw Scheuermann first control the robotic arm as he was when he watched the live television broadcast of Neil Armstrong walking on the moon.</p>
<p>“I had the same tingles because I realized that we have now stepped over a great threshold into what’s possible and, very importantly, what patients can now expect in terms of restoration — this is a very important part — not rehabilitation, but restoration,” the retired Army colonel said during a 2012 episode of CBS news program, “60 Minutes.”</p>
<p>As for Scheuermann, who participates in the research through a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center study, she’s happy to play the role of pioneering patient.</p>
<p>“I’ve always believed there’s a purpose to my illness,” she told CBS. “I didn’t think I would ever find out what it was in my lifetime.”</p>
<p>She added, “And here came this study where they needed me. You know, they couldn’t just pick any Tom, Dick or Harry off the street. In a few years, the quadriplegics and the amputees that this is going to help — the Department of Defense is funding some of this for vets — to be of use to them, in service to them, what an honor.”</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/a-woman-flew-an-f-35-simulator-with-her-mind-2015-3#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mit-cheetah-robot-run-jump-military-2015-1">Robot Funded By The US Military Can Sprint And Jump Just Like A Cheetah</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/navys-new-strategy-means-more-destroyers-in-the-pacific-ocean-2015-2The US Navy wants to send more destroyers to the Pacific Oceanhttp://www.businessinsider.com/navys-new-strategy-means-more-destroyers-in-the-pacific-ocean-2015-2
Fri, 27 Feb 2015 12:55:37 -0500Kris Osborn
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/54f0ac216da8113173db7c9a-1200-924/destroyer-pacific-ocean-us-navy-replenish-oil.jpg" border="0" alt="Destroyer Pacific Ocean US Navy replenish oil"></p><p>US Navy leaders' plans to forward deploy two more destroyers to Japan and base another attack submarine in Guam appear to be part of a new maritime strategy expected to be released by the Navy next month.</p>
<p>While most of the details of the new strategy for the Navy, Marines and Coast Guard will not yet be discussed by Navy officials, the effort does include a new examination of the sea-services' ability to forward deploy and project power in global hotspots such as the Pacific theater and Middle East.</p>
<p>"The sea services have updated the maritime strategy in response to changes in the global security environment, new strategic guidance and a changed fiscal environment," said Lt. Timothy Hawkins, a Navy spokesman, told Military.com.</p>
<p>The new maritime strategy, called "A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower: Forward Engaged Ready," will provide a comprehensive overview and build upon Navy priorities such as the need for deterrence, Hawkins explained.</p>
<p>"The principles of our maritime strategy largely remain the same from 2007. It continues to prioritize and value forward presence while emphasizing the continued need for the primary functions of a maritime service which are – deterrence, power projection, sea-control and maritime security," he said.</p>
<p>While Navy officials did not specify whether the new strategy takes up the issue of the Pentagon's Pacific rebalance, officials told Military.com that the document does address the challenges maritime forces face when it comes to accessing and operating in more "contested" environments.</p>
<p>Regarding the Pacific rebalance, Hawkins did re-iterate that the Navy plans to base as much as 60-percent of its fleet in the Pacific region by 2020.</p>
<p>Also, speaking Feb. 26 before the House Appropriations Committee – Defense subcommittee hearing on the Navy budget, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert made reference to the Navy's ongoing push to rebalance to the Pacific.</p>
<p>Greenert said the Navy's force of attack submarines based in Guam will be increased this year. He also made reference to the fact that two additional destroyers will be forward deployed to Japan.</p>
<p>By the end of this year, the number of attack submarines the Navy rotates through Guam will jump from three to four, service officials said. Also, the Navy's aegis-capable a guided missile cruiser, the USS Chancellorsville, will rotate through Japan by the end of 2015, service officials said.</p>
<p>At the moment, the Navy operates one carrier, seven destroyers, four mine-sweeping vessels, two cruisers and six amphibious ships from Japan, Hawkins said.</p>
<p>In addition, the Navy has included the rotation of Littoral Combat Ships through Singapore, the deployment of the P-8 surveillance plane and a rotation of Marines through Australia as portions of the Pacific rebalance.</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/54f0ab0aeab8ea5648cb7821-1200-800/lcs littoral combat ship uss freedom pacific.jpg" border="0" alt="LCS littoral combat ship USS Freedom Pacific.JPG">"We have the USS Fort Worth Littoral Combat Ship on deployment over there out of Singapore. When she completes a 16-month deployment, the next ship that comes over will stay. Then another will join and then two more — so we will have four Littoral Combat Ships by the end of 2017 in Singapore," Greenert told lawmakers.</p>
<p>The Chief of Naval Operations also detailed plans to base the Navy's carrier-based variant of the Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35C, in the Pacific region.</p>
<p>"Our Joint Strike Fighter will deploy to the Western Pacific by the end of this decade. So you see the trend we are putting all the forces out there, either forward stationed or they will deploy there first," Greenert added.</p>
<p>Naval threat assessments and technology development have also squarely been aimed at preparing the force to operate in the Pacific theater, Greenert explained to lawmakers.</p>
<p>"We have benchmarked anti-air, anti-submarine, electronic attack and cyber all to how they would perform in the Western Pacific against potential adversaries out there," he said.</p>
<p>Greenert also said U.S. relations with allies in the region remained strong, citing Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines and Vietnam. He also added that new partnership opportunities were emerging with India.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tony-badran-obama-envisions-iran-as-pillar-of-regional-security-2015-2" >The emerging nuclear deal makes huge assumptions about Iran's future </a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/navys-new-strategy-means-more-destroyers-in-the-pacific-ocean-2015-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-naval-vessel-laser-weapon-test-video-2014-12">The US Just Used A Laser Weapon System On A Navy Ship For The First Time</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/meet-the-us-generals-ramping-up-the-mission-in-iraq-and-syria-2015-2Meet the US generals ramping up the mission in Iraq and Syriahttp://www.businessinsider.com/meet-the-us-generals-ramping-up-the-mission-in-iraq-and-syria-2015-2
Thu, 26 Feb 2015 10:55:13 -0500Brendan McGarry
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/54ef3a2becad049d4086bcc7-710-533/army-lieutenant-general-james-terry-us-military-camp-leatherneckjpg.jpg" border="0" alt="Army Lieutenant General James Terry US military Camp Leatherneck.JPG"></p><p>The US Army generals charged with strengthening Iraqi and Syrian forces to dislodge Islamic militants from vast stretches of both countries are poised to ramp up the effort in coming months.</p>
<p>As the top US commander in Iraq, Army Lt. Gen. James Terry oversees the American troops who will train an increasing number of Iraqi security forces as they prepare to retake the northern city of Mosul from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.</p>
<p>Army Major Gen. Michael Nagata heads a task force attempting a similar and arguably even more complicated effort to vet, train and equip moderate Syrian fighters battling the al-Qaeda-inspired terrorist group.</p>
<p>Military officials have estimated the campaign to defeat the militants will take years. Yet the training programs for Iraqi and Syrian forces will pick up pace in coming months.</p>
<p>An Iraqi-led offensive to retake Mosul is planned for April or May, while the Syrian opposition "is rapidly coming online and will become a reality here very soon," a US Central Command official said last week during a briefing with reporters.</p>
<p>The men at the helm of this task are career military officers with extensive combat experience. Both fall under the command of Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, the four-star head of Centcom.</p>
<p>And though their training missions are similar, the generals will face unique challenges as they carry them out in vastly different conditions.</p>
<h3><strong>The 'Screaming Eagle' in Iraq: James Terry</strong></h3>
<p>Terry currently oversees some 2,600 American troops and additional coalition forces in Iraq as head of the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve. The service members hail from such units as the Army's 1st Infantry Division and a Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force.</p>
<p>A native of Chatsworth, Georgia, and commissioned in 1978, Terry rose through the ranks to hold a number of leadership positions in the service.</p>
<p>Early in his career, he commanded a company in the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), the "Screaming Eagles," at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. More recently, he headed NATO's International Security Assistance Force Joint Command in Afghanistan.</p>
<p>In a briefing with reporters in December at the Pentagon, Terry said US-led airstrikes against ISIS, also known as ISIL and Daesh, have degraded the group's ability to communicate with and resupply its fighters.</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/54ef3cf069bedde95186bccf-1024-683/army lieutenant general james terry jsoc pentagon inherent resolve.jpg" border="0" alt="Army Lieutenant General James Terry JSOC Pentagon Inherent Resolve">At the same time, he acknowledged that certain areas such as the Baiji oil refinery remain contested and that the training of Iraqi security forces would take a few years.</p>
<p>"I think we've made significant progress in halting that offensive that I talked about, the ability for them to continue to expand, you know, in terms of terrain and geography out there," he said, referring to the militants.</p>
<p>"I think what we must do, especially inside of Iraq, is continue to build those capabilities. I think you're at least talking a minimum of three years."</p>
<p>The spring offensive for Mosul may require as many as 25,000 Iraqi security personnel, including an attack force of up to five Iraqi army brigades with about 2,000 troops apiece. Thousands of Iraqi troops are cycling through one of five US-run training sites in the country.</p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/53f5d478ecad043f173364b0-1200-800/screen shot 2014-08-21 at 7.12.54 am.png" border="0" alt="Shi'ite Iraq Training">Conventional forces are training at Al Asad Air Base in Anbar province and areas in and around Taji, Irbil and Besmaya, while Iraqi counterterrorism units are receiving specialized instruction at another undisclosed location.</p>
<p>There are between 1,000 and 2,000 ISIS fighters estimated to be in Mosul, which is Iraq's second-largest city and home to more than 1 million people.</p>
<h3><strong>The Special Operator for Syria: Michael Nagata</strong></h3>
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/54ef3c59eab8ea535386bcc7-1024-680/us army brig general michael nagata pakistan flood relief.jpg" border="0" alt="US Army Brig General Michael Nagata Pakistan flood relief">Nagata commands the Combined Joint Interagency Task Force, which is responsible for the mission to train and equip as many as 5,000 moderate Syrian opposition forces at coalition sites in nearby countries.</p>
<p>He also oversees Special Operations Command Central, part of U.S. Special Operations Command, which is based at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida.</p>
<p>A native of Hawaii, the birthplace of his parents, Nagata is a longtime Special Forces officer with a family history of service to country.</p>
<p>His father was an Army colonel and two of his uncles served in the Army's 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a unit created during World War II with a contingent of Asian-American soldiers, many of whom served with distinction.</p>
<p>Nagata was commissioned in 1982 and started his Special Forces career a couple of years later with the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne). He later commanded a battalion in the 1st Special Warfare Training Group at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, worked for the undersecretary of defense for intelligence, and deployed to Pakistan, among other locations.</p>
<p>He reportedly pushed back against press accounts describing covert US military actions in Pakistan in the years leading up to the 2011 raid against Osama bin Laden.</p>
<p>He has openly acknowledged his difficulty in understanding the attraction among young Muslims to the Islamic State's ideology and assembled a brain trust of experts to better understand the issue.</p>
<p>"We do not understand the movement, and until we do, we are not going to defeat it," the general said during a conference call last year with specialists from the Pentagon and State Department, according to an article by The New York Times.</p>
<p>"I want to engage in a long-term conversation to understand a commonly held view of the psychological, emotional and cultural power of IS in terms of a diversity of audiences," he added. "They are drawing people to them in droves. There are IS T-shirts and mugs."</p>
<p>While US-led airstrikes are hitting targets in Iraq and Syria in roughly equal proportion, there are no American troops on the ground in civil-war-torn Syria and aren't likely to be.</p>
<p>The Pentagon has identified some 1,200 Syrian opposition fighters for potential training at one of four sites located in nearby countries. Washington last week reached an agreement with Ankara to have US and Turkish troops train the fighters at a new facility in Turkey.</p>
<p>The US is expected to announce a similar deal with Jordan in coming days, and additional agreements with Saudi Arabia in one to three months and with Qatar in six to nine months.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/israel-is-now-a-political-wedge-issue-in-the-us-2015-2" >Israel is officially a political football in the US</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/meet-the-us-generals-ramping-up-the-mission-in-iraq-and-syria-2015-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tour-haunting-former-soviet-base-in-hungary-2014-12">An Abandoned Red Army Base In Hungary May Have Once Stockpiled Nukes</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/mike-hoffman-chinese-new-years-message-from-aircraft-carrier-2015-2China sent a new year's message from the deck of its one aircraft carrierhttp://www.businessinsider.com/mike-hoffman-chinese-new-years-message-from-aircraft-carrier-2015-2
Wed, 25 Feb 2015 09:41:58 -0500Mike Hoffman
<p>Lining up 1,400 Chinese sailors and aircrew members on the country’s first&nbsp;aircraft carrier offers a bit of perspective on the Chinese carrier’s massive scale.</p>
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/54eceaa969beddde3f8b4569-1200-706/liaoning_cny.jpg" border="0" alt="china aircraft carrier" style="color: #000000;"></p>
<p>The sailors and air crew lined up on the ski jump of the Liaoning&nbsp;for a video celebrating the Chinese New Year, the year of the goat. Photos from the video offer the latest shots of the aircraft carrier first published in the US by Jeffrey Lin and P.W. Singer in&nbsp;<a href="http://www.popsci.com/happy-chinese-new-year-chinas-new-aircraft-carrier">Popular Science</a>.</p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/54eceaa9ecad041d408b4567-2000-1109/liaoning_cny_2.jpg" border="0" alt="china aircraft carrier" style="color: #000000;"></p>
<p>China is using the Liaoning to test its J-15 fighter fleet as it continues to improve the aircraft’s ability to operate off a carrier deck.&nbsp;<span id="more-24591"></span></p>
<p>China broadcast the video of the Liaoning crew weeks after reports surfaced that China is designing its second aircraft carrier. <a href="http://www.asiandefence-diplomacy.com/editorialsection.php?subaction=showfull&amp;id=1422191608&amp;archive=&amp;start_from=&amp;ucat=18&amp;">Asian Defense and Diplomacy</a> released Google Earth satellite images that show China building a model aircraft carrier in Wuhan Province.</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/54cfef9169bedda06535b1c7-800-522/china-carrier-map-2.jpg" border="0" alt="china aircraft carrier model"></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/china-may-be-developing-a-second-aircraft-carrier-2015-2" >China has constructed a life-sized mockup of an aircraft carrier flight deck</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mike-hoffman-chinese-new-years-message-from-aircraft-carrier-2015-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-headphones-tricks-2015-2">14 things you didn't know your iPhone headphones could do</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/the-us-is-now-selling-armed-drones-to-friendly-nations-2015-2The US is now selling armed drones to friendly nationshttp://www.businessinsider.com/the-us-is-now-selling-armed-drones-to-friendly-nations-2015-2
Tue, 17 Feb 2015 18:12:00 -0500Matthew Lee and Lolita C. Baldor
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/54e3cccb6da811a93c85a47b-1200-924/armed-military-drone.jpg" border="0" alt="armed military drone"></p><p>WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is amending its regulations for weapons sales to allow the export of armed military drones to friendly nations and allies.</p>
<p>The State Department said Tuesday the new policy would allow foreign governments that meet certain requirements — and pledge not to use the unmanned aircraft illegally — to buy the vehicles that have played a critical but controversial role in combating terrorism and are increasingly used for other purposes. Recipient countries would be required to sign end-use statements certifying that the drones would not be used for unlawful surveillance or force against domestic populations and would only be used in internationally sanctioned military operations, such as self-defense.</p>
<p>Each sale would be reviewed individually and the pledges would be monitored for compliance, the department said in a statement.</p>
<p>Previously, drone transfers had been governed by regulations that presumed that requests would be denied except in highly unusual circumstances. Certain armed drones — those with a range of 186 miles (300 kilometers) and able to carry a payload of 1,100 pounds (500 kilograms) — will still be subject to those restrictions.</p>
<p>The administration said it was making the changes to ensure that military drones are used responsibly and legally. The new policy is also part of a broader U.S. strategy to cooperate with other nations to formulate global standards for the sale, transfer and use of unmanned aerial systems, it said.</p>
<p>The United States has used drone campaigns in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen and elsewhere to target terrorist leaders. The campaigns are run in parallel by the CIA and the Defense Department, and have been sources of controversy because of claims that innocent people have been killed along with targeted individuals.</p>
<p>Drones have become one of the most critical tools on the battlefield, providing troops with eyes in the sky and a weapons platform that can fly around the clock over hotspots and fire missiles without endangering a pilot.</p>
<p>Over the course of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, commanders' requests for drones skyrocketed and the Pentagon has struggled to keep up with the demand.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The U.S. also has shouldered the bulk of the burden in recent military operations such as Libya, Iraq and Syria, providing unmanned aircraft for surveillance and intelligence gathering as well as armed drones for airstrikes when needed. And Pentagon and Air Force officials have long observed that they have been pressed to get drones to all the missions and locations where they are needed.</span></p>
<p>Providing unmanned aircraft to allies will relieve some of that pressure. Officials did not identify any specific countries that could be in line for drone exports, but some potential nations would include Israel, Egypt and even some of the eastern European countries who have been concerned about the rise and threat of Russia.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-us-is-now-selling-armed-drones-to-friendly-nations-2015-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bionic-suit-technology-paralysis-ekso-rewalk-2015-2">These bionic suits are changing the lives of people who never thought they'd walk again</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/michael-hoffman-the-us-army-testing-new-jungle-boots-2015-2The US Army is testing new combat boots for use in a Pacific jungle environmenthttp://www.businessinsider.com/michael-hoffman-the-us-army-testing-new-jungle-boots-2015-2
Tue, 17 Feb 2015 17:22:00 -0500Michael Hoffman
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/54e3bad969beddc2055b5aed-1200-924/us-army-jungle-march-pacific.jpg" border="0" alt="US Army Jungle March Pacific"></p><p>The US Army has said it wants to expand its reach into the Pacific and soldiers hope that includes a new boot designed for tropical environments versus the arid and mountainous climates soldiers faced in Iraq and Afghanistan.</p>
<p>Service leaders are testing equipment designed for these jungle conditions to possibly update the gear issued to soldiers. Chief among these programs is the Army boot.</p>
<p>Soldiers like Sergeant 1st Class Desmond Politini, who completed jungle training in Malaysia this past year, said Friday at a Pentagon meeting with reporters that the service-issued boots failed to perform well in the jungle climate.</p>
<p>The Army started a program last April to test commercially available jungle boot designs under PEO Soldier's Soldier Enhancement Program where soldiers suggest equipment that would help them in the field.</p>
<p>PEO Soldier officials have tested commercially available jungle boot designs along with military models to include the Army's Vietnam-era Jungle Boot. Service officials said the testing will be completed Feb. 25 and the results will be reviewed March 11-13.</p>
<p>Army will then provide the data analysis to the Maneuver Center of Excellence and decide whether the service wants to develop requirements for a hot weather tropical boot. Army officials will have a number of options it could pursue to include a service-wide issued jungle boot, a boot issued to units deploying to tropical climates, or even no new jungle boot at all.</p>
<p>"The ongoing Soldier Enhancement Program (SEP) Jungle boot initiative will reveal through data collection and soldier feedback the best salient characteristics for a future hot weather tropical boot," PEO Soldier said in a statement.</p>
<p>Soldiers wore Vietnam War-style jungle boots up until a decade ago when the service transitioned to the current, desert-style combat boots that include hot and temperate climate designs.</p>
<p>PEO Soldier said it has tested the jungle boot designs to stand up to a range of tropical scenarios. For example, Col. Robert F. Mortlock, project manager for Soldier Protection and Individual Equipment, said last March that the Army would like its jungle boot needs to dry quickly after being submerged in water.</p>
<p>The boot also needs to be lightweight and breathable to keep feet comfortable in hot and humid conditions. Traction is another key characteristic to offer soldiers solid footing in muddy terrain.</p>
<p>The Army has yet to reveal what commercially available jungle boots it has tested as part of the program. It also has not said how many boots have been tested.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cobra-gold-2015-training-exercise-2015-2" >Incredible photos of US Marines learning how to survive in the jungle during one of Asia's biggest military exercises</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/michael-hoffman-the-us-army-testing-new-jungle-boots-2015-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-headphones-tricks-2015-2">14 things you didn't know your iPhone headphones could do</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/report-us-undersea-dominance-is-in-jeopardy-2015-2Report: The US's global undersea dominance is now in jeopardyhttp://www.businessinsider.com/report-us-undersea-dominance-is-in-jeopardy-2015-2
Thu, 12 Feb 2015 10:38:00 -0500Kris Osborn
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/54c65ee86bb3f7c35e8b4567-1200-924/uss seawolf attack submarine sea trials 1997.jpg" border="0" alt="USS Seawolf attack submarine sea trials 1997"></p><p>A new study says emerging submarine detection technologies, computer processing power and platforms such as underwater drones could quickly erode the US military’s global undersea dominance and ability to operate in high-threat areas such as locations near enemy coastlines.</p>
<p>The US military relies upon submarines and undersea technological superiority for critical underwater intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance missions, which place assets near the surface fleet or coastline of a potential adversary.</p>
<p>In coming years, the technological margin of difference separating the US from potential rivals is expected to get much smaller, requiring the US the re-think the role of manned submarines and prioritize innovation in the realm of undersea warfare, according to a <a href="http://csbaonline.org/publications/2015/01/undersea-warfare/">January report by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments</a> titled “The Emerging Era in Undersea Warfare.”</p>
<p>“America’s superiority in undersea warfare results from decades of research and development, operations, and training.</p>
<p>It is, however, far from assured. US submarines are the world’s quietest, but new detection techniques are emerging that don’t rely on the noise a submarine makes, and may make traditional manned submarine operations far more risky in the future.</p>
<p>America’s competitors are likely pursuing these technologies even while expanding their own undersea forces,” the report states.</p>
<p>Navy officials told Military​.com the service was doing all that it could to retain its undersea technological advantage.</p>
<p>The US has enjoyed an undersea technological advantage because it has quieter submarines that are more difficult to detect — combined with advanced sonar technology designed to find enemy submarines, the report’s author told Military​.com</p>
<p>“At the end of WWII we did not have an undersea advantage. The Germans had developed submarines with snorkels and the US was searching for how they would deal with them. The new subs could avoid radar detection and were quiet when using their batteries.</p>
<p>Then, nuclear submarines came along. Passive sonar worked really well against them because they make noise continuously.</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5405e8a3ecad04d67744e2ef-1200-800/14368345056_0b9742ccec_o.jpg" border="0" alt="nuclear submarine us navy">Passive sonar works well against nuclear submarines and is less effective against diesels,” said Bryan Clark, the study’s author and senior fellow at CSBA.</p>
<p>Submarines are built to be quieter and less detectable through special engineering techniques which reduce the resonance of sound from the propeller and place insulation and sound-absorbing mounts in parts of the boat which radiate sound, Clark explained.</p>
<p>“This requires high-end manufacturing techniques. You engineer every component on the ship to be quiet and engineer them such that the noise does not reach the hull,” he said.</p>
<p>In the report, Clark details some increasingly available technologies expected to change the equation regarding US undersea technological supremacy. They include increased use of lower frequency active sonar and non-acoustic methods of detecting submarine wakes at short ranges.</p>
<p>In particular, Clark cites a technique of bouncing laser light or light-emitting-diodes off of a submarine hull to detect its presence.</p>
<p>“The physics behind most of these alternative techniques has been known for decades, but was not exploited because computer processors were too slow to run the detailed models needed to see small changes in the environment caused by a quiet submarine.</p>
<p>Today, ‘big dat’” processing enables advanced navies to run sophisticated oceanographic models in real time to exploit these detection techniques,” Clark writes.</p>
<p>If US attack submarines, SSNs, or nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines, SSBNs, equipped with the latest in quieting technology are unable to elude detection by potential adversaries – then strategists and planners might need to re-examine their roles and missions, the report suggests.</p>
<p><img class="float_left" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/54aea31deab8eaba5ee90a16-594-423/ohio ballistic missile submarine uss ohio.jpg" border="0" alt="Ohio ballistic missile submarine USS Ohio">“In the last 20 years there has been a dramatic increase in computer processing power and a miniaturization of computer processing.</p>
<p>It used to be that some of these technologies could not be used in real-time.</p>
<p>The ability to process and use information in real-time was not there. Processing power is now small enough and powerful enough to fit onto a platform,” Clark told Military​.com</p>
<p>As a result, Clark foresees a much greater use of low-frequency active sonar detection, a technology which can successfully detect submarines at greater distances than most current systems.</p>
<p>“Most hull-mounted sonars are medium band transmitting 1,000 to 10,000 hertz (Hz), whereas low frequency active sonar is less than 1,000 Hz. At lower frequencies you get longer ranges. At high frequency you get good resolution.</p>
<p>At really high frequency you can get almost photographic like images,” Clark explained. With longer range frequencies, sonar systems can have greater success searching multiple areas concurrently, he explained.</p>
<h3>Underwater Drones</h3>
<p>In addition, the report points out that unmanned underwater vehicles, or UUVs, will increasingly be used for “covert coastal surveillance and mining” previously reserved for manned submarines.</p>
<p>“Advances in battery and fuel cell technology are expected to enable non-nuclear submarines, UUVs and other undersea systems to operate for months submerged and power a growing number of sensors and other payloads.</p>
<p>For example, the newest Japanese Soryu–class submarines will use lithium-ion batteries instead of air-independent engines for power when submerged,” Clark writes.</p>
<p>The same improvements that are making submarine detection easier will also likely enable a new generation of sophisticated counter-detection technologies and techniques, the report says.</p>
<p>“Against passive sonar, a submarine or UUV could emit sound to overcome its own radiated noise using a technique similar to that used in noise canceling headphones.</p>
<p>Against active sonars, undersea platforms could — by themselves or in concert with UUVs and stationary or floating systems — conduct acoustic jamming similar to that done by electronic warfare systems against radar,” the report states.</p>
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/52d02e1b6bb3f7f3781354a4-720-405/drone-still-thumbnail.jpg" border="0" alt="Underwater Drone Slocum">Clark also sees a rapidly increasing ability for UUVs and manned submarines to work in tandem.</p>
<p>For instance, he explains how the Navy’s now-in-development Compact Very Lightweight Torpedo, or CVLWT, could be fired from UUVs as an offensive weapon.</p>
<p>The CVLWT is less than one-third of the size of the smallest torpedo currently operated by the Navy.</p>
<p>“Although the CVLWT has a short range, large UUVs could carry it as an offensive weapon and exploit their small size and signature to maneuver the torpedo close to a target,” Clark added.</p>
<p>“Similarly, small UAVs such as the Navy’s Experimental Fuel Cell UAV have relatively short endurance but can be launched by submarines or UUVs close to adversary coasts. They can take advantage of continued miniaturization in electro-optical, infrared and radar sensors to conduct surveillance or electronic warfare missions.”</p>
<p>Undersea communication technology is rapidly changing as well, potentially allowing submarines to remain somewhat stealthy while communicating with other submarines and surface forces.</p>
<p>“Acoustic communications are increasingly able to operate over operationally relevant distances, while at shorter ranges LEDs and lasers could provide greater bandwidth. And new floating or towed radio transceivers enable submerged platforms to communicate with forces above the surface without risking detection,” Clark writes.</p>
<p>Clark recommends the Navy consider the prospect of thinking about manned submarines as an undersea equivalent to aircraft carriers – meaning they could project power, provide support and send forth smaller UUVs for sensing and attack missions.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-uss-helicopter-needs-modernization-2015-2" >The US military's helicopter fleet is in desperate need of modernization</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/report-us-undersea-dominance-is-in-jeopardy-2015-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-naval-vessel-laser-weapon-test-video-2014-12">The US Just Used A Laser Weapon System On A Navy Ship For The First Time</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/5-women-were-just-allowed-in-to-one-of-the-armys-toughest-courses-2015-25 women were just allowed in to one of the US Army's toughest courseshttp://www.businessinsider.com/5-women-were-just-allowed-in-to-one-of-the-armys-toughest-courses-2015-2
Fri, 06 Feb 2015 10:27:00 -0500Matthew Cox
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/54d4d8e069bedd5c4c567942-800-589/army photo wire crawl obstacle course.jpg" border="0" alt="Army photo wire crawl obstacle course"></p><p>Five female soldiers have passed the pre-Ranger course at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.military.com/base-guide/fort-benning">Fort Benning, Ga.</a>, making them the first women who will attend&nbsp;<a href="http://www.military.com/military-fitness/army-special-operations/army-ranger-school-prep">U.S. Army Ranger School</a>&nbsp;this spring.</p>
<p>The five females successfully completed the Ranger Training Assessment Course, or RTAC, Jan. 30 alongside 53 males at the Army National Guard's Warrior Training Center at Benning.</p>
<p>The first integrated RTAC class began with 122 students: 26 women and 96 men.</p>
<p>"This first iteration of an integrated RTAC has provided significant lessons-learned as we conduct a deliberate and professional way forward to the integrated assessment in April," Maj. Gen. Scott Miller, commanding general of the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, said in a recent press release.</p>
<p>Three other RTAC classes will be held prior to the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.military.com/daily-news/2015/01/15/female-soldiers-approved-to-enter-ranger-school-in-april.html">Ranger Course Assessment</a>, which begins April 20. The final three RTAC courses with male and female students will be conducted Feb. 6-21, March 6-21 and April 3-18.</p>
<p>This historic pilot program and assessment comes amid increasing demand in recent years to open up to women all military specialties, including infantry. Army leadership is open to the idea, but insists there will be no lowering of standards.</p>
<p>The effort is the result of former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's January 2013 directive that all services open combat-arms roles to women that so far have been reserved for men. The services have until 2016 to make this happen.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.military.com/video/forces/army-training/us-army-ranger-school/659575955001/"><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/54d4da26eab8ea5169b52663-800-533/female army ranger candidate kelly derienzo.jpg" border="0" alt="Female Army Ranger candidate Kelly Derienzo">Ranger School</a>&nbsp;is a punishing ordeal designed to push combat leaders, both officers and sergeants, to their mental and physical limits. About half of all candidates fail to earn the coveted, gold and black Ranger tab.</p>
<p>RTAC was designated a pre-requisite for all women who wish to be part of the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.military.com/army-rangers/join.html">Ranger</a>&nbsp;Course Assessment. The course is designed to improve the combat arms functional skills of officer and enlisted volunteers. It assesses eligible Army active duty,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.military.com/Community/Home/1,14700,NG,00.html">National Guard</a>&nbsp;and foreign military soldiers on their ability to meet the challenges of Ranger School.</p>
<p>How female students will fare remains to be seen, but past studies have indicated they are likely more often to sustain injuries associated with combat training and combat than their male counterparts.</p>
<p>Historically, more than half of the soldiers who complete RTAC will successfully complete Ranger School, according to the release.</p>
<p>RTAC instructors were "impressed with the level of physical fitness and dedication of the majority of female volunteers," Lt. Col. Edmund "Beau" Riely, commander of ARNG Warrior Training Center, said in the release.</p>
<p>The two-week long RTAC consists of two phases. The first phase mirrors the assessment phase at Ranger School and is designed to assess a soldier's physical and mental abilities. During this phase, a student conducts a PT test, a swim test, land navigation, and a 6-mile foot march.</p>
<p>The second phase of RTAC is a field training exercise. It's designed to train soldiers on troop-leading procedures and patrolling, skills which will be used extensively during Ranger School.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/air-forces-arctic-survival-school-2015-2" >This extreme survival course teacher service members how to stay alive in Arctic conditions</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/5-women-were-just-allowed-in-to-one-of-the-armys-toughest-courses-2015-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sexual-assaults-among-us-soldiers-stats-2014-12">This Soldier's Story Of Being Sexually Assaulted Shows Why Sex Crimes In The Military Are So Hard To Pursue</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/next-us-defense-secretary-could-keep-a-10-2015-2The next US defense secretary says he'll consider keeping the A-10http://www.businessinsider.com/next-us-defense-secretary-could-keep-a-10-2015-2
Thu, 05 Feb 2015 10:05:00 -0500Richard Sisk
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/54d38365ecad04676a59275f-912-683/a-10-fleet.jpg" border="0" alt="A-10 Fleet"></p><p>Defense Secretary nominee Ashton Carter agreed Wednesday to hear arguments from Joint Tactical Air Controllers (JTACS) for keeping the A-10 despite renewed efforts by the Air Force to retire the Thunderbolt.</p>
<p>At his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Carter told A-10 advocate Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., that he had read letters in support of the A-10 from the Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) Association.</p>
<p>The TACP Association represents about 3,300 active and retired JTACs who had the mission of moving forward with ground troops to select targets and call in airstrikes.</p>
<p>Carter made no commitments on the A-10, but when asked by Ayotte if he would speak with representatives of the TACP, he said: “Absolutely, I will.”</p>
<p>Active-duty members of the TACP have been told not to offer opinions on the A-10, but the retired members have unanimously supported keeping the Thunderbolt, affectionately known as the Warthog in the fleet, Ayotte said.</p>
<p>She said that the TACP members agree that the F-16, the F-15 and the B-1 bomber “cannot replicate the capabilities of the A-10” in performing the close-air support mission for ground troops.</p>
<p>The Air Force last year sought to begin retiring the A-10s to clear the way for replacing them with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter but Congress voted for additional funding to keep the A-10s in the fleet through fiscal year 2015.</p>
<p>In its budget proposal for fiscal year 2016, the Air Force stated its intention to begin retiring the A-10 in FY 2016 “to focus available funding on more urgent combatant commander requirements.”</p>
<p>Under the Air Force plan, about 164 A-10s would be retired in 2016 but “the A-10 will remain operational and available for deployment until 2019.” The Air Force said the plan would save an estimated $3.5 billion over five years.</p>
<p>At an Air Force briefing last month, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh, a former A-10 pilot, said “It’s not about not liking or not wanting the A-10. It’s about some very tough decisions that we have to make to recapitalize an Air Force for the threat 10 years from now.”</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-pentagon-is-killing-the-a-10-2014-2" >The Air Force wants to kill a combat-proven aircraft that most troops totally love</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/next-us-defense-secretary-could-keep-a-10-2015-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/flying-car-aeromobil-flies-430-miles-2014-12">This Flying Car Is Real And It Can Fly 430 Miles On A Full Tank</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/army-shrinks-force-by-23000-soldiers-in-2016-budget-proposal-2015-2The US Army is shrinking by 23,000 soldiers under the Pentagon's 2016 budget proposalhttp://www.businessinsider.com/army-shrinks-force-by-23000-soldiers-in-2016-budget-proposal-2015-2
Tue, 03 Feb 2015 17:23:00 -0500Matthew Cox
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/51a90c3569beddda19000000-1200-800/soliders marching.jpg" border="0" alt="Soliders Marching"></p><p>The US&nbsp;<a href="http://www.military.com/Community/Home/0,14700,ARMY,00.html">Army</a>&nbsp;plans to slash another 15,000 from its active force while funneling more money into guided&nbsp;<a href="http://www.military.com/equipment/missiles">missiles</a>&nbsp;and its&nbsp;<a href="http://www.military.com/equipment/high-mobility-multipurpose-wheeled-vehicle-hmmwv">Humvee</a>&nbsp;replacement program in its fiscal 2016 budget request announced Monday.</p>
<p>The service's $147 billion proposed budget is about $2 billion less than the $149 billion the Army received in last year's budget.</p>
<p>It reduces the active force from about 490,000 to 475,000 soldiers and puts a priority on existing weapons systems such as the AH-64 Apache and<a href="http://www.military.com/equipment/mh-47-chinook">CH-47 Chinook</a>&nbsp;helicopters,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.military.com/equipment/joint-light-tactical-vehicle-jltv">Joint Light Tactical Vehicles</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.military.com/equipment/m1126-stryker-combat-vehicle">Stryker</a>&nbsp;wheeled vehicle upgrades and Guided Multi Launch Rocket Systems.</p>
<p>A significant change in this year's budget is that the Overseas Contingency Account request is $20. 7 billion, compared to last year's $28.5 billion.</p>
<p>"The Army's 2016 OCO request is the smallest it has been in over a decade," said Maj. Gen. Thomas Horlander, the Army's Budget director.</p>
<p>The $56.2 billion personnel budget would result in a total force of 1,015,000 soldiers – 475,000 in the active, 342,000 in the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.military.com/Community/Home/1,14700,NG,00.html">National Guard</a>&nbsp;and 198,000 in the Reserve.</p>
<p>In addition to reducing the active force from 490,000 to 475,000 soldiers, the Army would cut the National Guard from 350,200 to 342,000 soldiers. The Reserve's end strength would remain unchanged.</p>
<p>The Army also plans to reorganize its force structure to 30 active brigade combat teams compared to last year's budget plan for having 32 active BCTs by 2016.</p>
<p>If mandatory defense-spending cuts under sequestration take effect in 2016, the service would have to accelerate the drawdown of the active force by another 5,000 soldiers, according to budget documents.</p>
<p>The Army is asking for $23.1 billion in modernization funding, an increase of $2.5 billion over last year.</p>
<p>The Army plans on spending more than $1.4 billion to upgrade 64 Apache helicopters and $1.12 billion to upgrade 39 Chinook helicopters. The budget proposal does cut some aviation investment by spending only $187.2 million to buy 28&nbsp;<a href="http://www.military.com/equipment/uh-72a-lakota">UH-72 Lakota Light Utility helicopters</a>&nbsp;in 2016 versus the last year's buy of 55 Lakota's for $401.6 million.</p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/513f442c69bedd9442000000-1200-800/ah-64_apache_%282233201139%29.jpg" border="0" alt="AH 64 Apache in iraq">The Army will buy 372 Warfighter Information Network – Tactical systems, a sharp reduction from last year's purchase of 619 systems. But the budget invests $866.1 million in the program, compared to last year's funding level of $806.6 million.</p>
<p>The Army will spend $308.3 million to fund a second low-rate initial production contract for 450 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, a significant increase over last year's purchase of 184 JLTVs for $164.6 million.</p>
<p>The JLTV will eventually replace a portion of the Army's outdated Humvee fleet. The service plans to buy 49,000 JLTVs by 2041, Army budget officials said.</p>
<p>The budget funds the double-V hull upgrade to 62 Stryker wheeled vehicles at a cost of $667 million.</p>
<p>The Army also hopes to spend $268.6 million on 1,668 Guided Multi Launch Rocket Systems, compared to last year's buy of 774 of these long-range, precision strike missile systems.</p>
<p>Funding for science and technology programs such as the Joint Multi-Role Helicopter, High-Energy Lasers and alternatives to long-range precision fires remain roughly at fiscal 2015 funding levels.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-uss-helicopter-needs-modernization-2015-2" >The US military's helicopter fleet is desperately in need of modernization</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/army-shrinks-force-by-23000-soldiers-in-2016-budget-proposal-2015-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/flying-car-aeromobil-flies-430-miles-2014-12">This Flying Car Is Real And It Can Fly 430 Miles On A Full Tank</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/two-chris-kyle-stories-you-wont-see-in-american-sniper-2015-2Two intense Chris Kyle stories you won't see in 'American Sniper'http://www.businessinsider.com/two-chris-kyle-stories-you-wont-see-in-american-sniper-2015-2
Mon, 02 Feb 2015 12:59:49 -0500Mark Lee Greenblatt
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/54be95d369beddaa65d27823-840-630/kyle-1.jpg" border="0" alt="chris kyle"></p><p>The movie "American Sniper," based on former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle's book of the same name, omits two incredible episodes from Chris's life.&nbsp;</p>
<p>I'd like to share these stories with with you now in order to show another side of Chris, and to respond to some of the ongoing commentary about him.</p>
<p>First, some background: Chris is one of the nine heroes profiled in my book&nbsp;<a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1589799526" target="_blank">Valor: Unsung Heroes from Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Home Front</a>, which tells true stories of heroism by American troops.</p>
<p>I interviewed Chris back when he was still relatively unknown.&nbsp; Later, when he wrote his own book, Chris told me that he intentionally omitted these episodes from his memoir because he didn't want to leave me hanging.&nbsp; That alone says a lot about Chris's character.&nbsp;</p>
<p>As we worked together on his chapter, I spent a bit of time with Chris. Our interviews stretched over eight hours during one of his tours in Baghdad. We exchanged numerous emails to resolve outstanding issues and refine the text. &nbsp;Over that time, I caught glimpses into Chris's mindset.&nbsp;</p>
<p>And it rocked my world.</p>
<p>His dedication to his fellow American troops was intense and overpowering. On several well-documented occasions, he deliberately put his life in grave danger to save other Americans. Protecting American lives, he told me, was his driving force.</p>
<p>So, when I heard some negative backlash about Chris – calling him "a hate-filled killer," "coward," or "mass murdering [sic] sniper" – I had to share my experience.</p>
<p>First, Chris wasn't "a racist who took pleasure in dehumanising and killing brown people," as one writer suggested in a British periodical.</p>
<p>That's not fair to Chris. Not at all.</p>
<p>In our interviews, Chris certainly conveyed that he hated the insurgents, the Islamic fundamentalist militants against whom they were fighting, and that he was proud of killing many of them. There was no secret about that. He called them "savages" and spoke of them with unmistakable disdain. "They were complete dumbasses," he said to me. "Just idiots with guns."</p>
<p>When Chris appeared on Bill O'Reilly's show in 2012, he said "I'm killing them (referring to the insurgents) to protect my fellow Americans." When O'Reilly insisted that Kyle liked it, Chris responded, "It's not a problem taking out people that want your people dead ... That's not a problem at all."</p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/54cfa5246da811186deecfab-1200-667/chris kyle bill o'reilly interview 2012.png" border="0" alt="Chris Kyle Bill O'Reilly interview 2012">Forgive me, but that doesn't seem terribly damning in my view. Heck, I freely admit that I hate terrorists too.&nbsp;</p>
<p>But Chris never expressed to me any comparable views about Iraqi civilians. It was all about the terrorists who were beheading and torturing civilians (Iraqis and westerners alike).</p>
<p>No, the Chris I knew was motivated by something far more noble — defending innocent civilians and his American brethren. In fact, later in his 2012 interview with O'Reilly, the host asked whether he had any regrets, and Chris said, "Yes — it's the people I couldn't save." O'Reilly pushed him,&nbsp; saying: "The Americans you couldn't save. The allied forces."</p>
<p>Chris's response was telling: "The Americans, the local Iraqis, anyone who I witnessed violence coming down on them and I could not save them."</p>
<p>That flies directly in the face of the bogus "racist" claim.</p>
<p>Two incidents during the Second Battle of Fallujah in November 2004 illustrate this selflessness, this willingness to put himself in grave danger for his comrades. I feel compelled to tell these stories because they reveal Chris's dedication to saving lives, not just taking them.</p>
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/54cfa5d4eab8ea5650220096-840-630/chris-kyle-11.jpg" border="0" alt="chris kyle">The first episode occurred in early November 2004. It was during an overwatch mission, in which Chris was providing rooftop cover for Marines clearing buildings below.</p>
<p>The Marines encountered a group of enemy fighters, and "heavy contact" erupted. The enemy fell back and barricaded themselves into a house. The Marines were left exposed in the street.</p>
<p>Chris and another SEAL sniper realized they were no longer effective from the rooftop, so they flew down the stairs to support the Marines. By this time, the Marines had barricaded themselves in a building across the street from the insurgents' house.</p>
<p>But two of the Marines had been shot and lay in the road, writhing in pain.</p>
<p>Chris couldn't bear to see the Marines struggling helplessly in the street. "When you see an injured man, you do whatever you can to save him," he told me.&nbsp;</p>
<p>As a Navy SEAL amongst a group of "young, eighteen-year-old kids" barely out of basic training, Chris felt he had a special obligation. "It's beaten into your head throughout your training: 'You're the better, more effective warrior.'" That meant he had to go get those Marines, no matter what.</p>
<p>Chris and the other SEAL darted out into the street to the injured men, sprinting twenty yards into a torrent of gunfire. "You can hear the snaps. You know they're close," he said. "You just block it out."</p>
<p>Chris scurried in front of the enemy's hideout and grabbed one of the injured Marines. The man was screaming in pain from gunshots to one arm and both legs, and worse, a devastating gut shot that had somehow slid below his body armor. With bullets filling the air, Chris began to drag him toward safety.</p>
<p>Chris focused on the man he was trying to save, doing his best to block out the rounds that danced at his feet and zipped by his head. "During the heat of it, you're not thinking about it. You know you could get hit at any moment, and they'll put another belly button in [your] forehead ... but you just put your head down and go do it."</p>
<p>Chris tugged and dragged and pulled the wounded man until they both fell backwards into the alley, finally shielded from the guerillas' fire. He felt the Marine's blood all over his hands.</p>
<p>He heard the man's anguished screams, "Don't tell my mom that I died screaming like this!" The screaming continued for a few more agonizing moments.</p>
<p>And then it stopped.</p>
<p><img class="float_left" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/54be7485ecad0468705a6778-600-450/chris kyle facebook.jpg" border="0" alt="Chris Kyle facebook">Chris remembered those moments in excruciating detail. "I never met this kid before," he said bitterly, "and he wanted me to tell his mother how he died."</p>
<p>Four years later, during our interviews, Chris still couldn't shake the fact that he failed to save that kid's life.</p>
<p>The second story occurred just a few days later.</p>
<p>Chris was once again on overwatch in Fallujah, providing support from rooftops while Marines moved from house to house to clear large swaths of the city.&nbsp;</p>
<p>As the Marines plodded along, Chris heard enemy gunfire. He scrambled down to locate the shooters.&nbsp;</p>
<p>He stumbled upon a Marine unit clustered at the end of an alley. They told him that a small group of Marines were barricaded in a house about 50 yards away at the end of the passage, and that a number of guerillas were in the house across from them, pinging away at the trapped Americans.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Chris could see that every time the Marines moved — even just to peek out the window — a barrage of enemy gunfire would erupt. They were hopelessly trapped.&nbsp;</p>
<p>If they had tried to escape down the alley, they would have been gunned down.</p>
<p>Chris knew he had to act. "Seeing those guys getting shot up, it would chew me up inside to know that I sat back in safety and didn't help them," he told me.</p>
<p>"I would rather die helping those guys out than have a coward's conscience the rest of my life," he said.</p>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/54ac131c69bedd93760a7cf2-1200-924/screen shot 2015-01-06 at 11.52.48 am.png" border="0" alt="chris kyle"></p>
<p>So Chris ran down the alley.&nbsp; It was a broad passageway, ten or fifteen yards wide. The ground was paved and the walls were dense, made of stone or cement with stucco-like coating.</p>
<p>Chris's plan was to go down the alley and provide suppressive fire, allowing the Marines to escape back to the top of the alley. That meant he would have to go directly in front of the enemy compound — effectively running into the middle of a firing range during target practice.</p>
<p>As he proceeded, insurgents started firing at him.&nbsp; Chris fired back, trying to keep the heat off the trapped Marines.&nbsp; He ran out of ammunition and had to reload.&nbsp; Twice.&nbsp;</p>
<p>He finally arrived at the house.&nbsp; Facing the insurgent property and maintaining suppressive fire in that direction, he back-kicked the door to the Marines' house and shouted (in less-than-diplomatic terms) that they should vacate the area immediately.</p>
<p>The Marines scurried away, and Chris prepared to follow them.&nbsp; As he started to move, he saw an injured Marine with multiple shots to his legs. He couldn't move.</p>
<p>Chris thought back to the man who had died in his arms a few days earlier and knew what he had to do. "I had to grab my guy," he told me, "and get the hell outta there."</p>
<p>Chris ran to the injured Marine and grabbed him with his left hand. His right hand held the pistol grip of the sniper rifle, which he'd wedged between his chest and his left arm so that he could continue to shoot at the enemy and give himself a modicum of cover.&nbsp; In this contorted position, Chris began to pull the injured Marine back up the alley.</p>
<p>They managed to pass the insurgent safe-house without getting hit. Then, halfway down the alley, Chris heard the enemy fighters emerging. If they entered the alley, they would be right behind Chris and the injured Marine.</p>
<p>His rifle was empty, and he had no more magazines. &nbsp;There was only one thing to do: sling his rifle on his back, grab the wounded man with both hands, and "haul ass." &nbsp;As he dragged the man, the insurgents chased them and "got off a few rounds." Chris felt bullets flying past and was sure he was going to get hit.</p>
<p>"I could see shrapnel coming off the wall," he told me. "Oh, yeah, I thought I was going to die."&nbsp; He was nearing the breaking point. "I was suckin' wind. My legs were burnin'. I thought I was going to puke. I felt like quitting," he admitted. "I felt like stopping and saying, 'F__ it. You win. You got me.'"</p>
<p>But he did not stop.&nbsp; "The inner drive just won't let you give up," he told me. Somehow, some way, he just kept running, kept lugging the injured man, kept dodging bullets.</p>
<p>Now, the clustered Marines began firing back at the guerillas. For a few nerve-racking seconds, Chris was literally caught in a cross fire.&nbsp; Eventually, the Marines' firepower forced the insurgents back to their compound.</p>
<p>Chris pulled the injured man the rest of the way.&nbsp; He survived.</p>
<p>Chris Kyle literally saved his life.</p>
<p>So, when I hear people (who never met Chris) call him a mass-murderer or a coward or a hate-filled killer, I can't help but think about those incidents in Fallujah, in which he willingly put himself in grave danger trying to save lives.&nbsp; That's the Chris Kyle I knew.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/americas-best-sniper-ever-2015-1" >A Navy SEAL sniper instructor describes America's greatest marksman ever</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/two-chris-kyle-stories-you-wont-see-in-american-sniper-2015-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-reengineering-commercial-oil-ships-for-military-use-2015-1The US Navy is reengineering commercial oil ships for military usehttp://www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-reengineering-commercial-oil-ships-for-military-use-2015-1
Fri, 30 Jan 2015 15:26:00 -0500Kris Osborn
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/54cbdec2ecad04c675fdfe42-1200-1000/us sealift command mobile landing ship usns john glenn.jpg" border="0" alt="US Sealift Command mobile landing ship USNS John Glenn"></p><p>The Navy is making progress building a new class of ships configured for sea-basing and expeditionary missions as a way to help account for a shortage of amphibious assault ships and forward-position Marines, sailors, special operations forces, air assets and ship-to-shore connector vehicles, service officials said.</p>
<p>So far, the Navy has built and delivered two of five planned Mobile Landing Platforms, or MLPs — commercial oil ships re-engineered for military sea-basing and transport missions. In total, the service plans to build five MLPs with the last three termed Afloat Forward Staging Bases, or AFSBs – MLPs designed with a flight deck to support aviation operations.</p>
<p>“The delivery of MLPs 1 and 2 are complete.&nbsp; MLP 3 is under construction and will be the first AFSB variant,” said Lt. Kat Dransfield, Navy spokeswoman.</p>
<p>The MLP is a massive 80,000-ton, 785 foot-long commercial Alaska-class crude oil carrier configured to perform a range of military missions such as amphibious cargo on-load/off-load and logistics support. The MLP can reach speeds of 15 knots, has a draft of 29-feet and can carry a crew of 34.</p>
<p>The ship is engineered to ballast down and lower into the water, allowing three Landing Craft Air Cushion, or LCAC, lanes for amphibious loading and unloading and equipment transport such as vehicles and large land equipment and weapons. &nbsp;The MLP has as much as 25,000 square feet of vehicle and equipment storage space on deck, Navy officials said explained.</p>
<p>“It’s a big ship. It has a huge amount of acreage on it. It looks like an oil tanker but it can ballast down. We’ve been splashing Navy hovercraft on it and bringing LCACs on it. We’ve also splashed amphibious assault vehicles off of it,” Vice Adm. Phillip Cullom, deputy chief of Naval operations for fleet readiness and logistics, said at the Surface Navy Association annual symposium, Arlington, Va.</p>
<p>The contract for MLP 4 has been awarded, and MLP 5 will be procured in fiscal year 2017, said Dransfield.</p>
<p>MLP 1, called the USNS Montford Point, was put under contract for construction by the Navy in April 2011, resulting in a &nbsp;deal to National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, or NASSCO, in San Diego, Calif. MLP 1 was slated to cost about $500 million, Navy officials said.</p>
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/54cbe0426bb3f73d7806cd4d-800-532/usns montford point usns bob hope.jpg" border="0" alt="USNS Montford Point USNS Bob Hope.JPG">The ship was delivered in May of 2013 and is expected to be operational in the Spring of this year. The Montford Point demonstrated its capabilities during the 2014 Rim of the Pacific exercise and served as the centerpiece of the Pacific Horizon 2015 exercise last fall.</p>
<p>MLP 2, the USNS John Glenn, was delivered in March of last year. MLP 2 was expected to cost $440 million and was put on contract with NASSCO in April, 2011.</p>
<p>“The John Glenn is currently layberthed in the Pacific Northwest.&nbsp; After completing a Post Shakedown Availability, it will be ready for tasking in late June 2015, James Marconi, spokesman for the Navy’s Military Sealift Command, said in a written statement. MLP 2 is scheduled to join a maritime prepositioning ship squadron in fiscal year 2016, he added.</p>
<p>The MLPs can also connect to large cargo ships while at sea using a drivable ramp, allowing equipment to move from a cargo ship to the MLP for transport to shore. Navy leaders explained that MLPs are designed to augment amphibious assault ships and help move large conventional forces from ship to shore – in the event they are needed. &nbsp;The MLPs are designed to assist forward-positioned equipment and cargo ships called Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadrons.</p>
<p>“The MLP is an extremely versatile ship with its large, open, reconfigurable mission deck.&nbsp; &nbsp;MLPs 1 and 2 as part of the MPF will contribute to four core capabilities of deterrence, power projection, maritime security, and humanitarian assistance and disaster response,” Dransfield said.</p>
<p>MLP 3 is the first Afloat Forward Staging Base, or&nbsp;AFSB, which includes re-configured MLP with command and control technologies and a flight deck added on for maritime air operations.&nbsp; The need for the&nbsp;AFSB&nbsp;emerged out of a requirement from Central Command for countermine and Special Operations Forces staging in the Persian Gulf area, Navy officials said.</p>
<p>MLP 3 is slated for delivery in the Fall of this year, Dransfield added. A deal for MLP 3, called USNS Lewis B. Puller, was signed in Feb., 2012, Navy officials said. The cost for MLP 3 was estimated by Navy officials to be about $623 million.</p>
<p>“The MLP AFSB will primarily support mine countermeasure (MCM) and special operations force (SOF) missions.&nbsp;Its ability to act as a mother ship in support of MCM operations and loiter for extended periods supporting SOF operations provides a dual purpose capability addressing multiple strategic requirements,” Dransfield explained.</p>
<p>With a decade of land war winding down or ending and the U.S. military rebalancing to the vast waterways of the Pacific, the Navy and Marine Corps have been examining their expeditionary strategy and concepts of operation, Navy leaders explained.</p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/54cbe16b69bedd0c6cd0952a-800-600/mobile landing platform ship.jpg" border="0" alt="Mobile Landing Platform Ship">They are hoping to increase forward presence, improve amphibious equipment transport and landing ability and provide new platforms for sea-basing air and maritime assets. The development of MLPs is a cherished aspect of this broader strategy.</p>
<p>Furthermore, with combatant commanders’ requests for amphibious assault ships far exceeding the actual number of ships available, MLPs can meet some of the additional demand for expeditionary and maritime operations. The Navy currently operates 31 amphibious assault ships and plans to bring the amphib fleet up to 33, Dransfield added.</p>
<p>Also, as a derivative of a commercially-available ship, MLPs can be delivered and made available to the Navy and the Marines much more quickly than new-start developmental ships often take well over a decade to construct.</p>
<p>“MLP is indeed a new class of ship that brings the concept of sea-basing to reality. The platform has two primary capabilities: transfer of vehicles, equipment, personnel and sustainment at-sea from large Navy cargo ships, and delivery of these vehicles and equipment ashore with amphibious connectors. MLPs will provide capability to the U.S. military for large-scale logistics movements from sea to shore, reducing dependency on foreign ports,” Marconi said.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/one-of-these-vehicles-will-be-americas-next-amphibious-combat-vehicle-2015-1" >One of these vehicles will be America's next amphibious combat vehicle</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-reengineering-commercial-oil-ships-for-military-use-2015-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-naval-vessel-laser-weapon-test-video-2014-12">The US Just Used A Laser Weapon System On A Navy Ship For The First Time</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/kris-osborn-pentagon-unveiled-plans-for-f-35-successor-2015-1The Pentagon Is Already Planning A Successor To The F-35http://www.businessinsider.com/kris-osborn-pentagon-unveiled-plans-for-f-35-successor-2015-1
Thu, 29 Jan 2015 10:33:50 -0500Kris Osborn
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/54c99e34eab8ea4b749f539c-1200-858/rtr4cp6d.jpg" border="0" alt="F-35C"></p><p>The Pentagon is poised to unveil a new collaborative research program in the upcoming 2016 defense budget submission which will seek to identify and develop dominant, next-generation aircraft technologies for the Air Force and Navy.</p>
<p>Frank Kendall, the Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer, mentioned the effort Wednesday&nbsp;to lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee at a hearing on Pentagon&nbsp;technology and acquisition reform.</p>
<p>The new research program will involve the Pentagon’s research arm, called the Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency, or DARPA. It will focus on new airframe and engine technology for future jet fighters, cargo planes and unmanned systems.</p>
<p>Among other topics, the research effort will work closely on what 6th–generation fighter aircraft technologies will be needed to build an aircraft to succeed the <a href="http://www.military.com/equipment/f-35a-lightning-ii">5th–generation F-35</a>.</p>
<p>Various new designs for Navy and Air Force airplanes will be identified as “X”-planes, a Pentagon term often used to signify a yet-to-be-named platform under early development.</p>
<p>The Navy is in the early conceptual stages of an effort called F/A-XX designed to replace the F-18 in the 2030s. Service officials have not said much about this effort, in part because it is so early and there is plenty of scrutiny on the fifth generation fighters.</p>
<p>“Smart skins” which connect the fuselage with computer technology, super cruise ability and hypersonic speeds are among some of the technical attributes deemed likely to inform future designs, analysts maintain.</p>
<p>Lt. Gen. Mark Ramsay director, force structure, resources and assessment for the Joint Staff, told HASC lawmakers the new effort involves air and space domain innovation initiatives.</p>
<p>“We’re looking at domains and how we are going to fight the future fight,” Ramsay told the committee.</p>
<p>When asked by a lawmaker, Ramsay said it would probably take about 15-years to develop a new, fully-developmental next-generation aircraft to replace the A-10 Warthog.</p>
<p>The rationale for the new effort hinges upon a much discussed global phenomenon — the pace of technological and military modernization of potential adversaries and near peer competitors such as China and Russia.&nbsp; There may well be a need for the US to develop and field a 6th&nbsp;generation fighter aircraft because both Russia and China are known to be developing stealth aircraft engineered potentially to challenge the F-35.<img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/50b5f1b769bedd1231000002-900-630/1-1435.jpg" border="0" alt="J-20"></p>
<p>“We are at risk and things are getting worse. I came back to the Pentagon in 2010 after being away. The intelligence estimates when I left in 1994 were that China was really not much of a problem for us but in 10 or 15 years they could be based on their economic rate of growth. The intelligence estimates were correct,” Kendall told the committee.</p>
<p>Numerous Pentagon and Congressional reports have detailed public information regarding the rapid growth of China’s missile arsenal, naval fleet, ground army and anti-satellite technologies.</p>
<p>Kendall said the US no longer enjoys the overwhelming technological superiority it had during and after the first Gulf War in 1991.</p>
<p>As many remember, the first Gulf War featured the combat debut of some precision guided weapons just as Joint Direct Attack Munitions or JDAMs, some stealth technologies and other kinds of military innovations. This military superiority has lasted more than 25-years and has served the US well in Iraq, Afghanistan, Serbia and Libya, Kendall explained in a written statement.</p>
<p>“I became alarmed as soon as I started seeing technical intelligence reports on China’s modernization programs. I could say the same of Russia’s modernization programs as well. We came out of the Cold War with a very dominant military. We demonstrated that military conclusively in the first Gulf War and we used it effectively against any conventional force since. Since 2001 we’ve been involved in counter insurgency,” Kendall said. “The precision-munitions revolution that we demonstrated has been emulated by others.”</p>
<p>In particular, Kendall explained how certain potential adversaries are deliberately developing systems and technologies designed to counter U.S. high-value assets such as satellites, air fields and aircraft carriers.</p>
<p>Potential adversaries such as China, Russia and Iran have studied US military superiority and have been closing the gap, in part by fielding precision missiles able to threaten US power projection capabilities.</p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/50b81198eab8ea087f00000f-1200-780/sukhoi_t-50_in_2011_(4)-edit-14.jpg" border="0" alt="Russian PAK FA T-50"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">For example, the Chinese military is developing a long-range anti-ship cruise missile, the DF-21D, said by analysts to have a range up to 900 nautical miles.&nbsp; While there is some speculation as to whether it could succeed in striking moving targets such as aircraft carriers, analysts have said the weapon is in part designed to keep carriers from operating closer to the coastline.</span></p>
<p>“Some countries, China particularly, but also Russia and others, are clearly developing sophisticated weapons designed to defeat our power-projection forces. Even if war with the US is unlikely or unintended, it is quite obvious to me that the foreign investments I see in military modernization have the objective of enabling the countries concerned to deter and defeat a regional intervention by the US military,” said Kendall in a written statement to the committee.</p>
<p>The US relies on high-value assets such as airfields, aircraft carriers and space-based satellites, for intelligence, targeting, communication and the ability to project power, Kendall said.&nbsp; These assets could potentially be targeted by high-tech, long-range precision-guided ballistic and cruise missiles, Kendall explained.</p>
<p>Large numbers of accurate, technologically advanced missiles such as this could potentially get through the best of current US air defense systems, Kendall said.</p>
<p>“We have been doing some things to try to address the problem. This is a serious problem for the country. It is not just missiles it is other things such as electronic warfare capability, anti-satellite capability – a number of things which I think that are being developed very consciously to defeat the American way of projecting power. We need to respond to that,” Kendall said.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gertz-pentagon-china-has-undermined-us-superiority-2015-1" >Pentagon: China's weapons development has undermined US superiority</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/kris-osborn-pentagon-unveiled-plans-for-f-35-successor-2015-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/navy-expanding-use-of-sm-6-missile-2015-1The Navy Is Expanding The Deployment Of One Of Its Most Advanced Missileshttp://www.businessinsider.com/navy-expanding-use-of-sm-6-missile-2015-1
Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:04:00 -0500Kris Osborn
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/54bfd8e26da811d245b83990-1200-924/standard-missile-6.jpeg" border="0" alt="Standard Missile-6"></p><p>The Navy is massively expanding its planned use of the Standard Missile-6, a new high-tech ship-launched surface-to-air missile that can destroy enemy missiles, aircraft and unmanned systems.</p>
<p>In total, the Navy has authorized use of the SM-6 to expand from five ships to more than 35 ships.</p>
<p>“This effort is steeped in fleet requirements, focusing on delivering capability to support urgent operational needs in targeted areas of responsibility,” a Navy official told Military​.com.<span id="more-24425"></span></p>
<p>Previously, the SM-6 was only configured to fire from the most recent Aegis radar combat weapons system on Navy ships, a system called Aegis baseline nine. The Navy’s new authorization allows the SM-6 to integrate with the software and electronics used in Aegis Combat Weapon System baselines 5.3 and 3.A.0.</p>
<p>The Navy’s Aegis Weapon System, currently deployed on cruisers and destroyers, is a command and control technology using computers linked to a multi-function, phased array AN/SPY-1B radar. The high-powered, four-megawatt Aegis radar is able to search and track more than 100 potential targets, Navy officials said.</p>
<p>“We came to the realization that we can do AAW(anti-air warfare) with baseline 5. That opened up a world of potential for concept of operations for the Navy — for fleet defense and area defense strategies,” said Mike Campisi, SM-6 program director, Raytheon.</p>
<p>The SM-6, which first became operational in December of last year, is engineered with both an active and semi-active seeker, giving it an increased ability to discern and discriminate targets when compared to other missiles, Campisi explained.</p>
<p>“It has capabilities to go over-the-horizon,” he said.</p>
<p>In addition to missile defense and defense against fixed and rotary wing aircraft, the SM-6 can also defend against land-attack and anti-ship cruise missiles in flight. Having an over-the-horizon ability against anti-ship cruise missiles could prove extremely advantageous as it brings the possibility of destroying them at much greater ranges.</p>
<p>“As we pursue the multi-mission role for SM-6, we’re trying to understand the entire kill chain,” Campisi said.</p>
<p>Also, by having active guidance technology engineered into the missile, the SM-6 extends the range of the ship’s radar and also frees up the ship’s radar to focus on additional potential targets.</p>
<p>“Semi-Active mode means the radar has to see what it’s shooting at and guide in the missile. A ship’s radar won’t see over the horizon and won’t be able to guide in to anything that is beyond the horizon. Active mode is not tied to radar,” Campisi said.</p>
<p>So far, Raytheon has delivered 160 SM-6 missiles to the Navy and is on contract to deliver another 232 missiles. The Navy plans to move into full-rate production of the SM-6 in April of this year as an initial move toward eventually procuring as many as 1,800 SM-6 missiles.</p>
<p>Final SM-6 assembly takes place at Raytheon’s production facility at&nbsp;Redstone Arsenal&nbsp;in Huntsville, Alabama.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-f-35-just-hit-another-snag-2015-1" >The F-35 just hit another snag</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/navy-expanding-use-of-sm-6-missile-2015-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/hagel-took-a-veiled-shot-at-obama-in-his-last-speech-as-secretary-of-defense-2015-1Hagel Took A Veiled Shot At Obama In His Last Address To The Troops As Secretary Of Defense http://www.businessinsider.com/hagel-took-a-veiled-shot-at-obama-in-his-last-speech-as-secretary-of-defense-2015-1
Fri, 16 Jan 2015 09:50:52 -0500Richard Sisk
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/54b923056da8118b2ec887ca-1200-800/chuck hagel speech san diego uss america.jpg" border="0" alt="Chuck Hagel Speech San Diego USS America"></p><p>In his final address to the troops, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warned Thursday against "micromanaging" the military in what could be seen as veiled criticism of the White House.</p>
<p>"You cannot micromanage or even attempt to micromanage" the Defense Department, Hagel said in a town hall meeting with senior enlisted soldiers at the Army Sergeants Majors Academy at <a href="http://www.military.com/base-guide/fort-bliss" target="_blank">Fort Bliss, Texas</a>.</p>
<p>"If you think you've got the right leaders, then let them do their jobs," said Hagel, who abruptly announced his resignation Nov. 24 after reportedly clashing with an overbearing White House staff on national security issues.</p>
<p>Hagel also appeared to be referring to his differences with the White House in an earlier interview with the San Diego Times Union.</p>
<p>In his meetings with President Obama, Hagel said "he had the opportunity to express what I thought was right and what I thought was wrong, and I did."</p>
<p>Hagel did not respond directly when asked if his advice was heeded: "I feel very good about the fact that I was able to make the kind of recommendations that I did and give the advice I did. That's all I can do."</p>
<p>Hagel's two immediate predecessors, former Defense Secretaries Robert Gates and Leon Panetta, have both written books complaining that President Obama and his national security staff also attempted to "micromanage" them.</p>
<p>Hagel had thus far avoided speculation on whether he was forced out, saying only that he and Obama late last year had reached a "mutual decision" that he should resign.</p>
<p>However, Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, the new chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Hagel spoke to him late last year of his frustrations with the White House.</p>
<p>"I know Chuck was frustrated with aspects of the administration's national security policy and decision-making process," McCain told News Talk 550 radio in Arizona.</p>
<p>"His predecessors have spoken about the excessive micromanagement they faced from the White House and how that made it more difficult to do their jobs successfully," McCain said. "Chuck's situation was no different."</p>
<p>Obama has nominated former Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter to succeed Hagel, and Senate confirmation hearings are expected to begin early next month.</p>
<p>Hagel has said he will stay on until Carter is confirmed, and his tour of military bases this week was billed as a chance for him to say farewell to the troops and their families.</p>
<p>At the end of the tour at Fort Bliss, Hagel said that the biggest challenge for Carter will be resolving the budget uncertainty that has been forced upon the Pentagon by the cost-cutting sequester process.</p>
<p>"I don't see us getting into long land wars" in the coming years, Hagel said, but under sequestration, "we're not going to be able at all to fulfill the defense strategy needs. I think that's the biggest challenge we face. Thirteen years of constant war has broken parts of our force."</p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/547ed7736bb3f78410a0d9a8-1200-750/ap958861241069.jpg" border="0" alt="Ashton Carter Barack Obama John Kerry">Hagel also reflected on his own military experience, noting that Fort Bliss was where he was inducted and went through basic training in 1967. He later served as a sergeant squad leader in Vietnam, where he received two Purple Hearts.</p>
<p>He drew knowing laughter from the audience of senior enlisted as he recalled being greeted by drill sergeants "not by name but by other superlatives. Drill sergeants in 1967 were not as humane as I know all of you are," Hagel said.</p>
<p>Hagel said he was constantly asked "How dumb are you? How could you be so stupid? That's a hard one to answer, actually."</p>
<p>"It probably did as much to shape me and mold me and affect me as any one experience I ever had in my life," Hagel said of his time in the <a href="http://www.military.com/Community/Home/0,14700,ARMY,00.html" target="_blank">Army</a>. "The Army did very much to define me." In the years since, "I've never been too far from the Army, never been too far from veterans."</p>
<p>In closing, Hagel told the troops "it's been the greatest privilege" of his life to serve them as defense secretary.</p>
<p>Earlier, in remarks Tuesday at <a href="http://www.military.com/base-guide/marine-corps-air-station-miramar" target="_blank">Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in California</a>, Hagel said he hasn't given thought to what he will do next.</p>
<p>"I've had a very fortunate life," said Hagel, who was also a two-term Republican senator from Nebraska. "I don't know, I haven't thought about it. I've never thought about my next job. I'm just not thinking about it right now."</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/hagel-wants-to-replace-the-b-2-bomber-2015-1" >Hagel wants to replace the B-2 with a new strategic bomber</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/hagel-took-a-veiled-shot-at-obama-in-his-last-speech-as-secretary-of-defense-2015-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/hagel-wants-to-replace-the-b-2-bomber-2015-1Hagel Wants To Replace The B-2 With A New Strategic Bomberhttp://www.businessinsider.com/hagel-wants-to-replace-the-b-2-bomber-2015-1
Wed, 14 Jan 2015 10:10:00 -0500Richard Sisk
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/54b684356bb3f7fb5057a391-600-/b-2-spirit-st-louis.jpg" border="0" alt="B-2 Spirit st. louis" width="600"></p><p>Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel made a pitch Tuesday for funding of a new long-range bomber to replace the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber and bolster the nation's nuclear triad of bombers, missiles, and submarines.</p>
<p>"The one thing we cannot fall behind in is modernization. That has to start now," Hagel said of the program to develop and field a new long-range bomber for the 2020s.</p>
<p>"I think the long-range strike bomber is absolutely essential to keep our deterrent edge as we go into the next 25 years," Hagel told reporters after a town-hall meeting with airmen at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, home to the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber.</p>
<p>Last summer, the Air Force opened a competition to build the new aircraft that eventually pitted Northrop Grumman, which developed the B-2, against a partnership of Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. Boeing developed the B-52, which has been the backbone of the fleet for more than 50 years.</p>
<p>A decision was expected in the spring on who will build 80 to 100 next-generation bombers the Air Force would like to see cost less than $550 million apiece.</p>
<p>Air Force Secretary Deborah James and Gen. Mark Welsh, the Air Force chief of staff, have made a new bomber one of their top three priorities, along with fielding the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the KC-46 Pegasus refueling plane.</p>
<p>The nuclear triad is "always about strategic deterrence," Hagel told the airmen. "It is about staying ahead, technology-wise, of our adversaries — those who would want to do great damage to this country and our way of life and our allies."</p>
<p>Modernization of weapons systems was a key factor in guaranteeing national security, but military modernization has been hampered in recent years by the cost-cutting sequester process mandated by Congress, Hagel said.</p>
<p>"That hurt us in many ways," Hagel said.</p>
<p>"We have paid a lot of attention to that — especially the last year," Hagel said. "We're committing more resources in our budget that we'll be presenting to Capitol Hill here in the next few weeks, so I want to assure you of that component of your job."</p>
<p>Following his visit to Whiteman, Hagel flew to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar near San Diego on his final tour of US domestic military bases as defense secretary. President Barack Obama has nominated former Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter to replace Hagel, and confirmation hearings before the Senate Armed Services Committee were expected to begin in early February.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-shows-hourly-cost-of-military-aircraft-2014-12" >This Chart Shows The Staggering Hourly Cost Of Operating US Military Aircraft</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/hagel-wants-to-replace-the-b-2-bomber-2015-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/north-korea-equipped-two-submarines-with-ballistic-missile-tubes-2015-1North Korea May Have Equipped Two Submarines With Ballistic Missile Launch Tubes http://www.businessinsider.com/north-korea-equipped-two-submarines-with-ballistic-missile-tubes-2015-1
Tue, 13 Jan 2015 10:20:00 -0500Mike Hoffman
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/53a08f35ecad048325de7f9b-1200-800/rtr3u1xl.jpg" border="0" alt="kim jong un submarine North Korea"></p><p>Evidence has appeared in recent commercial imagery that a new North Korean submarine has up to two vertical launch missile submarines.</p>
<p>A website run by the&nbsp;<a href="http://38north.org/2015/01/jbermudez010815/">US-Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies called 38 North</a>&nbsp;posted the imagery with tags showing how the conning tower of a new North Korean submarine can house 1–2 ballistic or cruise missile tubes.</p>
<p>The submarine was seen at the&nbsp;Sinpo South Shipyard in North Korea, which has seen significant infrastructural improvement recently.<span id="more-24395"></span></p>
<p>Officials at the US Korea Institute at SAIS speculated that&nbsp;a “shorter naval version of the Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile, a Nodong medium-range ballistic missile, or naval versions of the solid-fuelled KN-02 short-range ballistic missile” could be the missile used aboard the submarine.</p>
<p>Obviously, a ballistic missile submarine would pose a new risk to South Korea. However, the analysts at Johns Hopkins pointed out that the imagery doesn’t mean the North Koreans are necessarily close to completing the project.</p>
<p>Much like North Koreas ICBM program, the technology is still lacking north of the 38th parallel.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/north-koreas-strange-juggling-act-is-becoming-ever-more-perilous-2015-1" >North Korea's strange juggling act is becoming even more perilous</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/north-korea-equipped-two-submarines-with-ballistic-missile-tubes-2015-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/pentagon-still-wants-to-scrap-the-a-10-2015-1The Pentagon Still Wants To Scrap The A-10 Despite Widespread Oppositionhttp://www.businessinsider.com/pentagon-still-wants-to-scrap-the-a-10-2015-1
Mon, 12 Jan 2015 14:40:50 -0500Richard Sisk
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/54216fbdeab8ea3c67471655-1200-924/a-10-warthog-in-afghanistan.jpg" border="0" alt="A-10 Warthog in Afghanistan"></p><p>The Pentagon renewed its commitment Friday to retiring the<a href="http://www.military.com/equipment/a-10-thunderbolt-ii">&nbsp;Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt</a>&nbsp;ground attack aircraft and closing excess military bases in the US, setting up another battle with Congress in budget hearings to begin next month.</p>
<p>Congress last year rejected the Air Force’s push to mothball the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.military.com/equipment/a-10-thunderbolt-ii">A-10</a>, popularly known as the Warthog, and the Pentagon’s proposal to establish a&nbsp;<a href="http://www.military.com/daily-news/2014/03/25/mchugh-brac-saves-army-5b-as-it-cuts-ranks.html">new Base Re-Alignment and Closure Commission (BRAC)</a>&nbsp;but Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said both issues would be a top priority for the Defense Department in hearings on the 2016 defense budget.</p>
<p>“Nothing changes about our desire to retire the aircraft,” Kirby said at a Pentagon news conference.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">A-10s were recently sent to the Middle East to join in airstrikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) but “the fact that the aircraft is flying combat missions” will not alter the stance of the Defense Department and the Air Force on retiring the A-10s as F-35 Joint Strike Fighters come on line, Kirby said.</span></p>
<p>The House and Senate last year rejected the Pentagon’s arguments and secured funding for the A-10s through 2015 in the National Defense and Authorization Act that was passed in December.</p>
<p>Also last month, Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, the new chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that the A-10 would be part of the Air Force inventory for years to come.</p>
<p>On a Dec. 19 visit to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, McCain said “the A-10 is the most capable air-to-ground weapon system that is in the entire inventory. I think they will be with us for an extended period of time.”</p>
<p>Davis-Monthan is home to about 80 A-10s, or about one-third of the Air Force fleet of Warthogs.</p>
<p>Kirby also acknowledged that the Pentagon will get strong push back from Congress on base closings.</p>
<p>All Senators and Representatives are reluctant to go along with any plan that would shutter bases in their districts or states, Kirby said, but “we want to work with Congress to affect another round of BRAC.</p>
<p>Earlier, John Conger, the acting assistant Defense secretary for installations, said “I believe that doing another BRAC round is simply good government.”</p>
<p>Kirby estimated that 25 percent of the military’s infrastructure in the U.S. was excess and Conger told the Hill newspaper that getting rid of the excess was crucial “during these tough fiscal times as we’re reducing force structure. There are savings to be had that will ease the burden on the budget.”</p>
<p>There have been five previous rounds of BRAC which have generated savings of $12 billion, according to the Pentagon, but Congress disputes the numbers.</p>
<p>Kirby said the plan to push for a BRAC round on US bases was unrelated to the announcement Thursday that the Defense Department would be closing more than a dozen bases In Europe for a projected savings of $500 million.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-pentagon-is-killing-the-a-10-2014-2" >The Pentagon is killing a combat-proven aircraft that most troops totally love</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/pentagon-still-wants-to-scrap-the-a-10-2015-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/the-us-armys-next-generation-pistol-2015-1The US Army Is Looking To Develop A Next-Generation Pistolhttp://www.businessinsider.com/the-us-armys-next-generation-pistol-2015-1
Fri, 09 Jan 2015 15:42:35 -0500Matthew Cox
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/54b036f66da811f44349aef4-1200-800/m9 pistol sailor us navy.jpg" border="0" alt="M9 Pistol Sailor US Navy"></p><p>US&nbsp;<a href="http://www.military.com/Community/Home/0,14700,ARMY,00.html" target="_blank">Army</a> weapons officials will not evaluate an improved version of the service's Cold War-era 9mm pistol, choosing instead to search for a more modern soldier sidearm.</p>
<p>In early December, Beretta USA, the maker of the U.S. military's <a href="http://www.military.com/equipment/m9-pistol" target="_blank">M9</a> pistol for 30 years, submitted its modernized M9A3 as a possible alternative to the Army's Modular Handgun System program — an effort to replace the M9 with a more powerful, state-of-the-art pistol.</p>
<p>The improved M9 features new sights, a rail for mounting lights and accessories, better ergonomics and improved reliability, Beretta USA officials said.</p>
<p>But by late December, it was all over for Beretta's engineering change proposal for the M9. The Army's Configuration Control Board decided not to evaluate the M9A3, according to a source familiar with the decision.</p>
<p>The move clears the way for the Army to release a pending request for proposal that will launch the MHS competition.</p>
<p>Program Executive Office Soldier would not comment for this story until Army Public Affairs has approved a statement, PEO Soldier spokesman Doug Graham said Thursday night.</p>
<p>The Army began working with the small arms industry on MHS in early 2013, but the joint effort has been in the works for more than five years. If successful, it would result in the Defense Department buying nearly 500,000 new pistols during a period of significant defense-spending reductions.</p>
<p>Current plans call for the Army to purchase more than 280,000 handguns from a single vendor, with delivery of the first new handgun systems scheduled for 2017, according to PEO Soldier officials. The Army also plans to buy approximately 7,000 sub-compact versions of the handgun.</p>
<p>The other military services participating in the MHS program may order an additional 212,000 systems above the Army quantity.</p>
<p>The effort is set to cost at least $350 million and potentially millions more if it results in the selection of a new pistol caliber.</p>
<p>Beretta USA officials said they have not received official notification of the Army's decision.</p>
<p>"Obviously, they didn't take a whole lot of time on this," said Gabriele De Plano, vice president of military marketing and sales for Beretta USA, reacting to the news of the Army's pre-Christmas decision after the M9A3's December 10 unveiling.</p>
<p>Army officials "didn't ask a single question; didn't ask for a single sample" for evaluation, De Plano said.</p>
<p>The Army maintains that the M9 design does not meet the MHS requirement. Soldiers have complained of reliability issues with the M9. One problem has to do with the M9's slide-mounted safety. During malfunction drills, the shooter often engages the lever-style safety by accident, Army weapons officials say.</p>
<p><img class="full" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/54b035f9eab8eac557352a08-1200-858/us soldier military police platoon m9 beretta pistol italy.jpg" border="0" alt="US soldier military police platoon M9 Beretta pistol Italy">The M9A3's "over-center safety lever" can be configured to act as a de-cocker, a change that eliminates the accidental safety activation, De Plano said.</p>
<p>As part of the joint requirement process for MHS, Army weapons officials did a "very thorough cost-benefit analysis" that supported the effort, Army weapons officials said. The old fleet of M9s is costing the Army more to replace and repair than to buy a new service pistol, officials said.</p>
<p>The M9A3 is not a perfect pistol, De Plano says, but the Army should at least evaluate it.</p>
<p>The M9 pistol can be "improved for hundreds of millions less than a new MHS pistol," De Plano said. "We can sell them this new pistol for less than the M9 pistol."</p>
<p>Beretta currently has an open contract for M9s that the Army awarded in September 2012 for up to 100,000 pistols. Deliveries of about 20,000 have been scheduled, leaving 80,000 that could be ordered in the M9A3 configuration for less than the cost of the current M9, De Plano said.</p>
<p>"Why not do a dual-path like they have done in other cases," De Plano said.</p>
<p>The Army was determined to do just that when it set out to search for a replacement for the <a href="http://www.military.com/equipment/m4-carbine" target="_blank">M4</a> carbine. The service launched a competition to evaluate commercially available carbines while, at the same time, it evaluated improvements to the M4.</p>
<p>In the end, the service scrapped the competition and ended up adopting the M4A1 version used by <a href="http://www.military.com/special-operations" target="_blank">special operations forces</a>.</p>
<p>"They could explore this," said De Plano, by ordering 10 M9A3s. "What's the downside?"</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-dod-is-mulling-over-how-to-fund-both-new-submarines-and-ships-2015-1" >The Pentagon doesn't know how it's going to fund its next generation of submarines</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-us-armys-next-generation-pistol-2015-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/the-dod-is-mulling-over-how-to-fund-both-new-submarines-and-ships-2015-1The Pentagon Doesn't Know How It's Going To Fund Its Next Generation Of Submarineshttp://www.businessinsider.com/the-dod-is-mulling-over-how-to-fund-both-new-submarines-and-ships-2015-1
Thu, 08 Jan 2015 10:55:38 -0500Kris Osborn
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/54aea31deab8eaba5ee90a16-594-423/ohio ballistic missile submarine uss ohio.jpg" border="0" alt="Ohio ballistic missile submarine USS Ohio"></p><p>Congress has created a special fund to help the Navy build its<a href="http://www.military.com/equipment/ssgn-ohio-class-guided-missile-submarine"> next generation nuclear submarine fleet</a> while rebuilding back to a 300-ship fleet, but Navy and Pentagon officials are now trying to find the dollars to supply that special funding line, said Navy acquisition chief Sean Stackley.</p>
<p>Called the National Sea-Based Deterrence fund, the new account is designed to protect funding to build 12 new Ohio Replace Program&nbsp;submarines from the Navy’s overall shipbuilding budget because Navy leaders and lawmakers have said&nbsp;the Navy can’t afford to build the&nbsp;new submarines and also reach the service’s&nbsp;goal of achieving a 306-ship Navy.</p>
<p>In total, the Ohio Replacement program will consist of 12 submarines to begin deployments by 2031.</p>
<p>“We have to procure those on a one for one basis to replace the existing Ohio submarines. That poses a significant impact to our shipbuilding budget – a $7 billion per year increase in the 2020s,” Stackley&nbsp;said Wednesday at the Atlantic Council, a Washington D.C.-based think tank.</p>
<p>Production for the lead ship in a planned fleet of 12 Navy ORPs is expected to cost $12.4 billion — $4.8 billion in non-recurring development costs and $7.6 billion in ship construction, Navy officials have said. &nbsp;Detailed design for the first ORP is slated for 2017 and some development and early construction is already underway. &nbsp;Formal construction is slated for 2021. The&nbsp;Ohio&nbsp;Replacement&nbsp;Program is slated to serve through the 2080s.</p>
<p>Overall, the Navy hopes to meet its goal of producing&nbsp;Ohio Replacement&nbsp;submarines for $4.9 billion each in 2010 dollars, service officials said.</p>
<p>“It is a national mission and the nation determined we need to get this submarine built and out to sea. We’ve got to put the tools in place to deal with that challenge by putting in the Sea Based Strategic Deterrence fund,” Stackley said.</p>
<p>While having the account is a great start, Stackley emphasized that the sources of the money are still in question.</p>
<p>Working with ORP-builder Electric Boat, a subsidiary of General Dynamics, the Navy has finished the ship specifications for the boat and made progress with a few cost-cutting initiatives.</p>
<p><img class="float_left" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/54aea2b2eab8eaaf5ee90a1a-1200-1715/ohio-class submarine trident ii d5 missile launch.jpg" border="0" alt="Ohio class submarine Trident II D5 missile launch">The Navy is only building 12&nbsp;Ohio&nbsp;Replacement&nbsp;submarines to&nbsp;replace&nbsp;14 existing ones because the new submarines are being built with a strong nuclear core reactor which will better sustain the submarines, Navy officials have said.</p>
<p>As a result, the&nbsp;Ohio Replacement&nbsp;submarines will be able to perform a greater number of deployments than the ships they are&nbsp;replacing&nbsp;and not need a mid-life refueling in order to complete 42 years of service.</p>
<p>The rationale for the fund includes the effort to find a way to build the Ohio Replacement submarine while preserving the shipbuilding budget.</p>
<p>The Navy’s 2015 30-year shipbuilding plan, released this past summer, acknowledges that there does not appear to be enough money to reach the plan’s goals and achieve a fleet larger than 300-ships, citing the pace of planned retirements for ships built between 1980 and 1990.</p>
<p>“Congress and DoD are working together and recognize the challenge. We’re going to fund the Ohio Replacement. The question is how we maintain the balance of our shipbuilding program as we build the Ohio Replacement,” Stackley said.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, Stackley emphasized that the Navy will be able to reach its 306-ship fleet goal.</p>
<p>“The Secretary of the Navy has been almost singularly focused on getting us back to a 300-ship Navy. Today we are at 289. We have 44-ships under construction and a dozen under contract. Another eight are planned for 2015. We are on a path to 300-ships. We’re going to get there,” he said.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-wades-into-the-paris-attack-2015-1" >Here's how Russia and Putin are responding to the terrorist attack in Paris</a></strong></p>
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